The state secondary education board has written to district magistrates, alerting them that if teachers engaged in the Election Commission’s SIR exercise are not available during Madhyamik, the examination process could be at risk.

The Class X state board examinations, to be written by around 10 lakh students, are scheduled to start on February 2 and will continue until February 12.

Board president Ramanuj Ganguly, in a letter to the district magistrates on January 27, wrote: “The whole team of teachers actually facilitates the process beneficial to free and fair conduct of the examinations… Please direct to ensure their full-time presence on days of examinations in every centre in your district. Replacement of the officer-in-charge and/or their leaving the centre during the exam will jeopardise the examination process.”

A board official said about 50,000 teachers would be required to conduct Madhyamik across 2,682 exam centres statewide.

The SIR exercise is being carried out ahead of the publication of the electoral rolls on February 14. “The teachers, in their capacity as booth-level officers (BLO), are being requisitioned each day to conduct hearings. If the teachers are not spared from this duty during Madhyamik, how will the board exams be conducted?” the official said.

This is not the first time the board has written to district magistrates. On December 17, 2025, it had requested that teachers be engaged in SIR duties in a way that allowed them to remain available during the Class X board exams.

The letters were sent to the magistrates of 23 districts across Bengal. “We received no response to the December communication. Left with no choice, a fresh letter was sent,” the official said.

Education minister Bratya Basu had also criticised the Election Commission’s decision to keep teachers engaged as BLOs for the SIR during Madhyamik. Speaking to reporters on December 19, he said: “This is likely to come in the way of conducting the exams. The Election Commission’s decision to keep the teachers engaged during
SIR is unfortunate... The teachers have been engaged as BLOs without consulting the state government and the education department. This is unfair.”

An education department official pointed to an existing shortage of teachers. The school service commission (SSC), which conducted selection tests after nine years for the appointment of secondary and higher secondary teachers, has yet to complete the recruitment process.

Mandated by the Supreme Court to recruit teachers by December 31 through a fresh selection test, the SSC was unable to meet the deadline due to a series of litigations challenging its recruitment rules. The apex court subsequently extended the deadline to August 31, 2026.

“We are short of teachers. Fresh teachers couldn’t be appointed by December 31. If the existing pool of teachers is kept engaged in SIR duties during the boards, how will invigilation be carried out? That is why the education minister has expressed his concerns,” the official said.